On Your Shoulder
by AngelFire Rei
Summary: Drabbles-Drabble1: Short SasuSaku, Sasuke dies on a mission, Naruto comforts Sakura, Possibly more drabbles later SasuSaku


**A/N:**_This is just a drabble, the pairing is SasuSaku. Naruto and Sakura are just friends. This may turn into a collection should I get inspired for another part~ Other parts may or may not be connected to the first! R&R~_

**On Your Shoulder:**

On Your Shoulder I Cry

* * *

Waking quietly that morning, Sakura felt her sore limbs drag over the carpet, bringing her to the bathroom sink. Her eyes were dark and sunken with even darker circles hanging under them, her face was pale, like bone, her lips were still dry.

_He's gone…really gone…this time he can't even come back, you know?_ A soft inner voice murmured deathly quiet words to her.

"Oh…why…Sasuke-kun?" She asked her reflection sullenly, before painfully tearing her eyes from the mirror as silent tears dropped to the tile floor. "I just got you back…"

* * *

It was only the second day after his death, only three months after he reluctantly came back to the village; it was too hard and too soon. The younger Uchiha had returned after completing his goal, he'd taken his brothers life and come home. Sasuke worked hard to make up for lost time, worked even harder to regain the trust of the villagers, of the Hokage and her counsel.

"I'm going to do something with this life of mine," He'd said, told everyone, "Now that it's mine to do with,"

Naruto, slapping him on the back as they left that first meeting with Tsunade replayed in the back of Sakura's eyes as she entered Hokage Tower. Their bond had remained so strong; it was just sitting here with the blonde, waiting for Sasuke to come back.

Surprisingly, when he came home, he came home for her and for Naruto; he came back to them both. Naruto found the closest thing he had to a brother again, and Sakura found, that Sasuke had feelings for her, feelings she'd nearly given up on.

One of the first things he did when he got her alone…was apologize. It was slightly amusing to watch him struggle for the right words, saying things, taking them back when he thought they sounded wrong. His emotions were still difficult to convey, but he was trying, he was trying.

Sakura bit her lower lip, wiping at a stray tear that rebelled against her will not to cry. She needed to give a mission report; she couldn't be bawling like a child during a report, Ibiki and Tsunade would be there, possibly an Anbu captain. Kakashi should have been, but he was still in the hospital, slowly recovering from the same fatal mission they'd returned from, him, and her the only survivors.

She nipped her lip more firmly. Sasuke and two others died when the mission took a turn for the worse. It had been a high ranked mission only because of the client's own political seat, but, it should have been easy it was only an escort assignment, especially for two jonin and three chunin, one trained under the Hokage herself and a medic, two sharingan users, and two promising young shinobi.

Then, they were ambushed, Kakashi was badly injured while helping the client escape, the two others, one jonin, one chunin were killed in the initial attack.

Sasuke would probably have been killed then too, if it hadn't been for the damned horse that was spooked when the first body hit the ground. He managed to kill his attacker because he was alerted and he even managed to take out a few others obtaining minor injuries, but…

Sakura waited out side the door, she'd already knocked, and her shishou had called out for her to wait a moment.

He'd been caught across the back with a stray kunai during a moment where his reaction time was slow. The Haruno girl cringed at the memory, she'd tried to warn him, and when he was turning, just enough to cause the kunai strike to be nothing serious… After that it all happened so fast, she didn't understand at first, when he grabbed her about the waist and flung her into the trees. She watched take a shuriken to the chest and cried out in horror when the explosive tag attached to it ignited, bursting into flames, taking him within the inferno.

Kakashi's pained moan sounded suddenly a short distance to her right, the medic in her took over, her mind shut out the rest, for a while at least.

Somehow Sakura was able to get them far enough that a regular patrol had found them, Kakashi just barely breathing, Sakura fighting off traumatic shock, and their client

Sobbing like a baby, though he'd had near to none injuries.

A nurse burst out of the room, running back to the hospital, and then Sakura was ushered in by Shizune.

Somehow her lips recited all this to her master, and the others present. She answered any questions they asked her numbly, nodding and shaking her head when that was acceptable.

What seemed like an eternity later she was free to go, the mission was considered a total failure, and a tragic loss. The ceremonies for the shinobi they lost would be held tomorrow, their names would be carved into the memorial stone sometime in the early morning, and would be there forever.

"His name will be there, and they will remember him as a hero to this village." Shizune whispered as she walked out with the girl who had practically become her younger sister.

"He is a hero," The pink haired kunoichi crooked the first smile she had since the mission.

"He is." The older kunoichi agreed.

* * *

She was passing the hospital gate, glancing up, wondering fleetingly if her sensei would be awake, she figured one more day of rest before she visited him would be a good idea, for them both.

Finally she'd seen his face. It didn't seem like as much of a victory as it once would have been. Thinking back to her days as a genin, so far back it seemed fuzzy in her mind; she could remember team seven trying to glimpse their master's face, even just once. She recalled the many foolish things they'd attempted.

Under the mask, Kakashi was, just a man, younger looking that she'd thought he'd be, not totally gorgeous, not insanely handsome, just a nice looking man with a scar across his eye.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto's voice was quite, all the world should be wary when the village idiot isn't shouting like the earth is falling in; it means that it might actually be happening.

He'd come up beside her, no doubt from the hospital, he had that look, the one you get after seeing someone, one of your comrades, one of your friends, someone you look up to as strong and great, in very poorly condition.

"He's gone this time Naruto." She sighed.

"Yeah…" She heard his fist tighten, watched his face grow angry in an almost pathetic way.

"I should have—"

"This isn't a time for 'I should have' and 'I could have's…Sakura-chan." Naruto murmured. "If you could have, you would have, if you were supposed to, you would have. I believe that. I believe in that…" His blue eyes were bright with sadness, as she looked in them with shock. But there was something else, though she couldn't place or name it, there was something else shining through just then.

Village life didn't stop those that knew what happened gossiped about it with loose tongues and harsh words. They didn't know him; they only knew what he'd done, what had happened to him as a boy, they didn't know Sasuke. Naruto stayed with her the entire day, though few words passed between them, they walked through the whole village, meandering down this road and that, silently remembering firsts, and lasts.

He'd say a few things when they'd pause somewhere, and she would nod and reply as best she was able.

The sun began its decent as the made their slow meandering way to the memorial stone. Neither had said 'let's go' but both couldn't help but be pulled to the large rock where their team had first truly come together, as Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke lead by Hatake Kakashi.

The sky was a pale purple and blue mix, with hints of other dying colors, rosy pinks and reds and oranges being swallowed at the horizon as the came up to the clearing. They could hear a soft chinking sound and they knew that new names were being added to the stone's face.

One of the village workers finished adding the last name, turned and left with a slight nod and a mumble, "He was a good man…"

Sakura's eyes drifted off, following him back down the path before returning to the name, it stood out among so many others.

_Uchiha Sasuke_

"He loved you," Naruto mumbled, coming to kneel beside her, flopping back in the grass, eyes glued to the new carving. "He told me so…"

She glanced back, feeling her eyes tear up again. Scooting back, she found herself leaning into her best friend; she glanced back, toward the village. "Look there," She directed with her chin, waiting for Naruto's gaze to peel away and look to the Hokage Faces'. "He wanted to see your face up there…"

Naruto sniffled when she finished that statement, but he didn't full on cry, not like she did.

Sakura bent her head down, burying it in his shoulder, sobbing helplessly. "I love him…I love him…He can't be gone!" She screamed out before collapsing back to Naruto's shoulder.

He couldn't say anything to her, if he agreed he would make it worse, if he said it would get better she'd cry harder, saying nothing was hard. "Sakura-chan…shh…" He patted her back, stroking her shoulders gently as she sobbed.

"I'll be here…" He made her a soft promise, "If you need me…I'm here."

* * *

**A/N****:**_ Like I said, just a drabble, so its short, sorry^^; if there's a good response i may write more R&R~_

_AngelFire Rei~  
_


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